BHUBANESWAR: Taking exception to the allotment of coal mines in Odisha to a company other than the Mahanadi Coalfields Limited (MCL) located away from the State, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Thursday demanded that the matter should be re-examined. In a letter to Union Minister for Coal Piyush Goyal, the Chief Minister said, “It has been brought to my notice that the ministry of coal has decided to allot four coal mines of Odisha, Rampia, Dip side of Rampia, Ghogarpalli and Dip extension of Ghogarpalli to Western Coalfields Limited (WCL) instead of MCL, which is operating several coal mines in the region.”
Operationalisation of coal mines requires close coordination with the local administration for land acquisition, rehabilitation and resettlement of project affected families, he said and added that the WCL with its headquarters at Nagpur in Maharashtra may not be in a position to effectively tackle the issues which are critical to the smooth running of coal mines.
The MCL has achieved a record production of more than 143 million tonnes of coal during 2017-18, the Chief Minister said and added that with a more focussed approach towards resettlement of the affected families, it can grow further in partnership with the local communities. Requesting the Union Minister to re-examine the matter, the Chief Minister said the four coal mines should be allotted to the MCL instead of another Coal India Limited (CIL) subsidiary. “In case MCL is unable to handle more coal mines in view of its existing commitments, CIL may consider to set up another subsidiary for Talcher Coalfields and the MCL may further scale up its operations in the Ib valley region,” he said.